AT THE MOVIES: July 9-16

Rating Scale: No stars (terrible) to 4 stars (a classic). SW is Stephen Whitty of Newhouse News Service; DG is David Germain and CL is Christy Lemire, of the Associated Press.

Movies opening "BRUNO"
1.5 stars: Sprung from the brash and creative mind of British comic Sacha Baron Cohen, Bruno is a flamboyantly gay Austrian fashion correspondent who repeatedly shocks people with his flamboyant gayness. In small doses - on TV and at the film's high-energy start - he can be a hoot. But here Cohen's as vapid as the celebrity culture he's stridently spoofing - which makes it hard to care about him. 88 min. R (pervasive strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity and language). Opens Friday at Showcase, Quality 16, Brighton. (CL)

"I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER"
Not yet reviewed: A nerdy valedictorian proclaims his love for the hottest and most popular girl in school - Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere) - during his graduation speech. Much to his surprise, Beth shows up at his door that very night and decides to show him the best night of his life. PG-13 (crude and sexual content, language, some teen drinking and drug references, and brief violence). Opens Friday at Showcase, Quality 16, Brighton.

"MOON"
4 stars: Sam Rockwell stars as Sam Bell, an astronaut in the near future living in a station on the far side of the moon. He's about to wrap up his three-year contract mining helium, the Earth's main energy source, when he starts seeing and hearing things and his health begins to deteriorate. But then another version of Sam arrives: younger, fitter, more organized and businesslike. 97 min. R (language). Opens Friday at Showcase. (CL)

"SUMMER HOURS"
3 stars: Three siblings come to grips with the loss of the family matriarch in this new film from Olivier Assayas. Juliette Binoche stars. In French with English subtitles. 102 min. Not rated ( not rated but contains language, smoking and some drug references). Opens Friday at the Michigan. (CL)

Movies holding "ANGELS AND DEMONS"
2 stars: Film adaptation of Dan Brown's thriller of the same name, the sequel to "The Da Vinci Code," finds Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) investigating a secret society's plan to kill four Roman Catholic cardinals and destroy St. Peter's Basilica with stolen antimatter during a papal conclave. 138 min. PG-13 (sequences of violence, disturbing images and thematic material). At Showcase. (CL)

"away we go"
2.5 stars: An expectant couple travels around the country auditioning cities - along with the friends who come with them - in search of a place to put down roots. 97 min. R (sexual situations, strong language and alcohol abuse). At Showcase and the State Theater.

"CHERI"
2 stars: Oscar-nominated director Stephen Frears continues to demonstrate his talent with this adaptation of a Colette novel. Set in Paris in the years before World War 1, the movie paints a picture of the romance between young Cheri (Rupert Friend) and retired courtesan Lea (Michelle Pfeiffer). Cheri's mother (Kathy Bates), a rival of Lea, plots to separate the pair by arranging a marriage between her son and Edmee (Felicity Jones). 100 minutes. Rated R ( sexual and drug content). At the Michigan. (CL)

"DANCE FLICK"
(Not yet reviewed) Street dancer Thomas Uncles (Damon Wayans Jr.) is from the wrong side of the tracks, but his bond with the beautiful Megan White (Shoshana Bush) might help the duo realize their dreams as they enter in the mother of all dance battles. Rated PG-13 (crude and sexual content throughout, and language). At Briarwood.

"GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST"
1 star: A womanizer (Matthew McConaughey) is haunted by the ghosts of his former girlfriends at his younger brother's (Breckin Meyer) wedding. The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (Emma Stone), Present (Noureen DeWulf), and Future (Amanda Walsh) take him on a journey through his romantic history (à la Ebenezer Scrooge) to help him come to a realization about his ways with women. 100 min. PG-13 (sexual content, some language and a drug reference). At Briarwood. (CL)

"THE HANGOVER"
2.5 stars: In this bachelor-party-gone-bad comedy, four guys (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha and Zach Galifianakis) head to Las Vegas for a night of male debauchery, but when they awaken the next day, the groom (Bartha) has gone missing. To find him, his three friends must retrace their drugged-out steps from the night before, a strange journey that includes a quickie wedding, a naked Asian gangster, an infant found in a closet, a stolen police car and boxer Mike Tyson's pet tiger. 100 min. R (pervasive language, sexual content including nudity, and some drug material). At Showcase, Quality 16, Brighton. (CL)

"ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS"
2 stars: The third film in the franchise offers more action but fewer laughs than first installments as Manny, Elle and Diego team up to rescue Sid, who has been taken captive by a tyrannosaurs. With the voices of Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary. 93 minutes. Rated G. At the Michigan, Showcase, Quality 16, Brighton. (DG)

"MONSTERS VS. ALIENS"
2.5 stars: Classic creatures from the 1950s get a high-tech makeover, with a healthy amount of attitude, in this 3-D animated feature. Far from being menacing, they're optimistic misfits who just want to be loved and understood. Rather than destroying each other, they're loyal friends who've been trapped together as government test subjects, only to be unleashed on the world when an alien invasion requires their unique powers. 94 mins. PG (sci-fi action, crude humor and mild language). At Briarwood. (CL)

"MY SISTER'S KEEPER"
1.5 stars: A couple chooses to medically engineer a child to help save the life of their older daughter, a decision that raises ethical and moral questions. 103 min. PG13 (mature thematic content, some disturbing images, sensuality, language and brief teen drinking). At Showcase, Quality 16 and Brighton.

"NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN"
(Not yet reviewed) Larry (Ben Stiller) becomes a caretaker at the Smithsonian, where Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), an evil Pharaoh will come to life with the reestablishing of a tablet as a magical force . In the process, old exhibits (such as Robin Williams' Theodore Roosevelt) and new exhibits (like General Custer, Napoleon Bonaparte and Al Capone) come back to life, and into conflict with each other. Larry enlists the help of Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) and together they try to put everything back in order. 105 min. Rated PG (mild action and brief language). At Brighton.

"THE PROPOSAL"
2 stars: A pushy boss forces her young assistant to marry her in order to keep her visa status in the U.S. and avoid deportation to Canada. Sandra Bullock, Mary Steenburgen, Ryan Reynolds star. 107 min. Rated PG-13 (sexual content, nudity and language). At Showcase, Quality 16, Brighton. (CL)

"STAR TREK"
3.5 stars: Latest film in the "Trek" franchise explores the back stories of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto), before they unite aboard the USS Enterprise to combat Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulan from the future who threatens the United Federation of Planets. 127 min. Rated PG-13 (alcohol abuse, adult situations, brief strong language and violence). At Showcase. (SW)

"THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3"
2 stars: Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garbe into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime. Denzel Washington and John Travolta star. 106 min. Rated R (violence and pervasive language). At Showcase. (CL)

"TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen"
1.5 stars: Sam Witwicky once again teams up with the Autobots to battle Decepticon forces in an effort to protect humankind. 144 min. PG13 (intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, language, some crude and sexual material, brief drug material). At Showcase, Quality 16 and Brighton. (Sandy Cohen, The Associated Press)

"UP"
3.5 stars: From Disney-Pixar comes this animated comedy-adventure about 78-year-old balloon salesman (voiced by Ed Asner), who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell. 96 min. Rated PG. In Disney Digital 3D at Quality 16, Showcase and Brighton. (CL)

"WHATEVER WORKS"
2 stars: 92 min. Woody Allen directs and Larry David stars as an eccentric, misanthropic chess teacher from Greenwich Village who comes home one night and finds a young woman (Evan Rachel Wood) lying on his doorstep. He takes her in for the night and eventually marries her, despite their 40 year age difference and her absent mindedness. His philosophy on the matter is that life is short so he might as well enjoy himself. 92 min. PG-13 (sexual situations including dialogue, brief nude images and thematic material). At Showcase, The State. (DG)

"X MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE"
2 stars: Hugh Jackman stars in this prequel to the X-Men film trilogy, focusing on the mutant Wolverine and his time with Team X, before Wolverine's skeleton was bonded with the indestructible metal adamantium. Set roughly 20 years before X-Men, the film focuses on Wolverine's violent past, the Weapon X program and his relationship with his half-brother, Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber). 107 min. PG-13 (intense sequences of action and violence, and some partial nudity). At Briarwood. (DG)